March Check-in&Chat - Green beer to fuel your lifts!
Options
Replies
-
Hi all,
Room for one more here?
I've been on MFP for about a year and doing StrongLifts since mid-January. (Lost about 45 lbs and have gone from a size 18 to a size 10). And although I've ventured into the forums to read (lurk), I've never actually made a post or joined a group. I've always been a little wary of social media, but you know what? I just decided it's time I made myself some Internet friends. I've been debating joining this group for a while now, but two things happened today that made me actually do it.
First, a conversation with my sister this morning: she was complaining that she's been eating crap lately and can't seem to get herself back on track. And when I told her that I've been feeling the same way for the last couple of weeks, her response was "Don't tell me that! You're my inspiration!" Well, I've never had anyone tell me that I'm their inspiration before and have to admit that it felt pretty damn good (/odd). It also made me think about the fact that I've been inspired by a lot of people on MFP in the year I've been here, but I've a) never told anyone that; and b) never had any actual connection with people here. So, to all you strong women, who have been inspiring me without knowing it, I'm here to say thank you. And, you know, do ya wanna maybe let me hang out with you?
And second -- here's where I get a little braggy -- I deadlifted 145 today. I felt so friggin' awesome I could barely contain myself. But as I was leaving the gym, I had absolutely no-one to call or text to brag to. I mean, no-one who would actually appreciate it. I know that my one sister and a few friends would give me the "hey, good job..." but not really grasp how big a deal it was to me. (I'm sure some of you can relate to having friends who want to be supportive but think you should really be spinning or doing yoga instead of bulking yourself up lifting weights with the big boys.)
So that's my story; here's my numbers (January 13 until today, March 2):
Squat: 45 > 130
Bench: 45 > 85
OHP: 45 > 65 (only managed 5,5,5,4,4, so I'll be redoing 65 next time)
Rows: 65 > 105
Deads: 95 > 145
I guess I should also put up some March goals, although I've never been good at making specific goals. I do feel like I'm going to start stalling out on some of my lifts soon, so I'm not sure how to estimate reasonable numbers. Let's say:
Squat: 150
Bench: 100
OHP: 80 (I feel like that’s really optimistic!)
Rows: 120
Deads: Bodyweight! (which means adding 25 lbs to my lift and taking 5 lbs off my body, or some combination thereof.)
As for non-number related goals:
-- I'm going to keep lifting three times a week. (Mostly, I haven’t had a problem with that, but two weeks ago, I was MIA from the gym for an entire ten days, which felt horrible. I played 19 games of softball, 3 games of shinny, and 2 nights of volleyball in those ten days, but I still really missed my lifting routine, which was a good reminder to prioritize my time.)
-- I just started the 100pushups challenge, so I'm going to continue trying to keep up with that 3 times a week. Anyone else doing this (or done it) – I’m still trying to decide if I should tack it on at the end of my lifting sessions or at another time of the day. Thoughts?
-- Yoga at least once a week (this will definitely be the hardest goal to hit.)
-- Get my binge eating under control. Or, at the very least, track everything. When I first started tracking on MFP, I really did log everything and if I went 2000 calories over for the day, at least it was there in bright red to keep me accountable. In the last couple months, I’ve had some binging sessions where I just think “well, I didn’t measure anything out so I have no idea how much I ate” and therefore don’t record anything. (Which is perfectly logical, right?)
-- Finally, I'm really trying not to focus on the scale too much right now, but I really, REALLY want to go from obese to overweight on the stupid BMI chart. And I think this is the month...
Ok, well that was a really long introduction -- I hope you'll forgive my lack of Internet etiquette.0 -
Hi all,
Room for one more here?
I've been on MFP for about a year and doing StrongLifts since mid-January. (Lost about 45 lbs and have gone from a size 18 to a size 10). And although I've ventured into the forums to read (lurk), I've never actually made a post or joined a group. I've always been a little wary of social media, but you know what? I just decided it's time I made myself some Internet friends. I've been debating joining this group for a while now, but two things happened today that made me actually do it.
First, a conversation with my sister this morning: she was complaining that she's been eating crap lately and can't seem to get herself back on track. And when I told her that I've been feeling the same way for the last couple of weeks, her response was "Don't tell me that! You're my inspiration!" Well, I've never had anyone tell me that I'm their inspiration before and have to admit that it felt pretty damn good (/odd). It also made me think about the fact that I've been inspired by a lot of people on MFP in the year I've been here, but I've a) never told anyone that; and b) never had any actual connection with people here. So, to all you strong women, who have been inspiring me without knowing it, I'm here to say thank you. And, you know, do ya wanna maybe let me hang out with you?
And second -- here's where I get a little braggy -- I deadlifted 145 today. I felt so friggin' awesome I could barely contain myself. But as I was leaving the gym, I had absolutely no-one to call or text to brag to. I mean, no-one who would actually appreciate it. I know that my one sister and a few friends would give me the "hey, good job..." but not really grasp how big a deal it was to me. (I'm sure some of you can relate to having friends who want to be supportive but think you should really be spinning or doing yoga instead of bulking yourself up lifting weights with the big boys.)
So that's my story; here's my numbers (January 13 until today, March 2):
Squat: 45 > 130
Bench: 45 > 85
OHP: 45 > 65 (only managed 5,5,5,4,4, so I'll be redoing 65 next time)
Rows: 65 > 105
Deads: 95 > 145
I guess I should also put up some March goals, although I've never been good at making specific goals. I do feel like I'm going to start stalling out on some of my lifts soon, so I'm not sure how to estimate reasonable numbers. Let's say:
Squat: 150
Bench: 100
OHP: 80 (I feel like that’s really optimistic!)
Rows: 120
Deads: Bodyweight! (which means adding 25 lbs to my lift and taking 5 lbs off my body, or some combination thereof.)
As for non-number related goals:
-- I'm going to keep lifting three times a week. (Mostly, I haven’t had a problem with that, but two weeks ago, I was MIA from the gym for an entire ten days, which felt horrible. I played 19 games of softball, 3 games of shinny, and 2 nights of volleyball in those ten days, but I still really missed my lifting routine, which was a good reminder to prioritize my time.)
-- I just started the 100pushups challenge, so I'm going to continue trying to keep up with that 3 times a week. Anyone else doing this (or done it) – I’m still trying to decide if I should tack it on at the end of my lifting sessions or at another time of the day. Thoughts?
-- Yoga at least once a week (this will definitely be the hardest goal to hit.)
-- Get my binge eating under control. Or, at the very least, track everything. When I first started tracking on MFP, I really did log everything and if I went 2000 calories over for the day, at least it was there in bright red to keep me accountable. In the last couple months, I’ve had some binging sessions where I just think “well, I didn’t measure anything out so I have no idea how much I ate” and therefore don’t record anything. (Which is perfectly logical, right?)
-- Finally, I'm really trying not to focus on the scale too much right now, but I really, REALLY want to go from obese to overweight on the stupid BMI chart. And I think this is the month...
Ok, well that was a really long introduction -- I hope you'll forgive my lack of Internet etiquette.
145!!!! Awesome!0 -
Ok, well that was a really long introduction -- I hope you'll forgive my lack of Internet etiquette.
You should fit right in because we not only brag regularly but encourage each other with our bragging behaviors! :laugh:
Mostly because we all lift and understand how amazing it feels when you get a weight off the ground or bench that would have been impossible for you to handle just a few weeks/months before. It's all good. Brag away! :bigsmile:
Your numbers look awesome, and you should be proud. Proof of all that hard work (and yes, lifting is hard work ... fun, but hard).0 -
I started stronglifts a month ago, to the day!
I am now lifting
Squat 92.5 lb
Deadlift 101 lb
OHP 44 lb
Bench 62 lb
(not multiples of 5 because I started with a 12kg bar - the biggest one in my gym - and I've been adding 1, 2 or 3 kg per workout (1kg on the OHP, 2kg on squats and bench, 3kg on deadlifts) since I didn't buy fractional plates and this has been working for me so far)
I can do 3x10 (real) push ups
And I'm working up to doing chin ups and inverted rows (I found a variation of the stronglifts 5x5 program in PDF and there's a lot less of the annoying guy/marketing chatter in that PDF and it has inverted rows, push ups, chin ups and some abwork I've substituted with planks.
I tried running yesterday and that didn't work out too well for me, I gave birth less than 4 months ago and my hips and pelvis felt horrible that evening and the whole next day (lifting helps though!). I had really bad SPD during the second half of my pregnancy so being pain-free is actually my #1 goal.
According to the military BF% calculator I'm at 30.7% BF (down from 34.7% last month!)
My current goals
#1 be pain/injury free
#2 get down to 25% BF
#3 Reach the "novice" level on all my lifts according to strstd.com (I'm almost there!)
#4 Chin ups without assistance (I'm pretty far from this, I'm doing the routine from stage 6 of NROLFW after my "B" stronglifts workout but lately my stronglifts have been getting heavy enough that I'm not completing all 10 sets of 2)
#5 Lower my RHR to 70 BPM
My workout routine
Stronglifts 2-3x per week (usually 3 but sometimes DH has to be at work early and I depend on him to watch the baby)
Walks (with dog & baby)
Just Dance/BEP experience on Wii as often as possible
Occasionally spinning or zumba at the gym if schedules allow for it.
As for my "be pain/injury free" goal you'd think it goes without saying but after my run I googled "SPD running after pregnancy" and sooo many online forum posts were girls who decided to push through the pain and keep running. Uh, no. Not going to do that.
Awesome stats!
So yea. I went to strstd.com I was kinda shocked at where I was at honestly. I thought I would be more toward intermediate at least on the squat and deadlift. Now I'm going to obsess over this. Kinda an awesome website love it.
Yea put in a couple of you ladies numbers in and by far way ahead of me. A couple of you had all your lifts almost all to intermediate.
Like 353 pound deadlift is just barely intermediate ? WTH. I have some serious work to do. Gonna be a pro one day!
Not sure if this is helpful to judge for the ladies vs what the guys are lifting or not. Because just comparing the raw weight isnt really fair to go off of. So ill post it for ya. This is after 12 weeks.
0 -
I actually ended up fibbing to get a photobucket account (for some reason the site wouldn't accept my postal code so I am now the proud owner of zip code 90210 :laugh: ) You can add text to a photo on there, but no side by side comparisons. I see lots of people who do it so there must be some free program. Oh well, the text is better than nothing at this point!
There are also collage apps you can use. Type in collage. I used Aviary to put the text on my photos hopefully I can make them side y side later on.0 -
This is why I love stronglifts. Because I can look good and not have to.
0 -
This is why I love stronglifts. Because I can look good and not have to.
This is awesome! Doing stronglifts and knowing that running isn't THE ONLY/BEST EXERCISE (as it would be easy to believe when you're just starting fitness, I know I did about a year and a half ago) makes me feel so much better about not being able to run right now.0 -
Ok, time for progress pics!
Last night was a **** fest as expected. Sushi and beer. Oh and saki. Crap, forgot to log the saki. Did limit myself to one roll and some spring rolls (probably should have gone for edamame instead, but whatever). Super amazed that I weigh the same today as I did yesterday. I'm thinking it's dehydration, not that I'm not retaining water.
Still seeing progress, but I wish the scale would move faster. Oh well. It also marks a 5lb loss, so I got to update my spreadsheet, and due to loss of a bf% point, I actually get to eat 30 more calories a day.
Everyone is putting up great numbers, and looking at everyone's goals, we're going to be awesome at the end of the month!
ETA: Ack! Photos are huge. Give me a minute.
EATA: Ok, fixed. Hm, I'm thinking I should mark a place on the floor to stand. Looks like I'm getting further from the mirror each time... :grumble:
Oh my gosh! Auddii, look at you! It's like the incredible shrinking woman!
Girl, you are looking good!
I just had to stop reading and post a virtual high five! :flowerforyou:0 -
Hi everyone!
I just started SL on 2/19 and I am happy to have found this group!
I started this at:
Squat: 75
Bench: 65
Row: 65
OHP: 45
Deadlift: 75
My #'s for Feb ended at:
Squat: 95
Bench: 75
Row: 75
OHP: 50
Deadlift: 80
For March my goals are:
- Eat as close to TDEE as I can
- Keep up with 3x/week with the SL and a total of 6 days/week in the gym despite a very busy month
- Perfect my Gluten Free chocolate chip cookie recipe
I don't know where I will be as for weights at the end of the month since I don't see me keeping with the 5lb jumps each session for too much longer. I will be happy just continuing to lift!
As for the side by side photos, I open them in my computer, put them side by side, and then take a screen shot of it and crop as necessary. I use photobucket for the words and to post here.
Welcome to the group! I started on 2-15.
What a great idea on the photos! Like Auddii, I use photoshop and just creat a new blank image twice the width of one picture, and the same height and copy/paste or drag originals into the new image. Gimp, I think, let's you put lettering on pix, too. That is what I had to use at the day job until they got us photoshop, which is what I use in the studio.0 -
Okay, am on a roll this a.m.
@Auddii, your butt DOES look great! Nice and lifted!
@Sampson, Welcome!,, your numbers are inspirational to me! And yes, while I have supportive friends in my like, they don't actually GET what it means when I come in all excited because I rowed 60 lbs. these ladies and Doozer DO, and that is priceless!
Re: circuit training, (TMI) I have gone and pulled something in my hip/upper thigh area doing a lean a little more ummm...extreme than I used to be able to. I can still squat without pain, so that's a plus, lol! (/TMI)
Which brings me to this...had been doing M-W-F, and think I would like to change it to every other day. I HATE the two day weekend lag until Monday, so this week I will work it S-T-Th-Sat, then the next week M-W-F, rinse, repeat...
Well, I probably need to go put some breakfast in the engine and go turn on the heat in the studio. Found out the hard way that a cold bar across the shoulders is not pleasant, lol!0 -
welcome Sampson..... you'll fit right in around these parts~~
funny you mention the 100 pushup thing... I have that app ( as well as 200 situps and 100 or is it 200 squats) on my phone.... since as of tomorrow Im going from SLs on M-W-F to only twice a week T-Th...I was considering using that app's workout as my warmup... I do not progress 5 pounds each workout like most of the ladies.... I had been doing it once a week but havent moved in 10 days due to missed workouts and other reasons...
I eat at a deficit because I still have a high enough BMI that what the scale shows is my #1 priority...so I use SLs to preserve muscle mass not build at this moment.... Im thinking the 100 push-up and squat thing is just what I need ( I also have the pull-up app but never used it, maybe will now)....Obviously my workout routine is a constant work in progress0 -
Awesome stats!
So yea. I went to strstd.com I was kinda shocked at where I was at honestly. I thought I would be more toward intermediate at least on the squat and deadlift. Now I'm going to obsess over this. Kinda an awesome website love it.
Yea put in a couple of you ladies numbers in and by far way ahead of me. A couple of you had all your lifts almost all to intermediate.
Like 353 pound deadlift is just barely intermediate ? WTH. I have some serious work to do. Gonna be a pro one day!
Not sure if this is helpful to judge for the ladies vs what the guys are lifting or not. Because just comparing the raw weight isnt really fair to go off of. So ill post it for ya. This is after 12 weeks.
Ok, I see you entered your stats as I did, with 5 reps at whatever weight. But, do we do 5 reps or 25? There really aren't any instructions, so I'm not sure if its a single set or an entire workout.0 -
Sampson, welcome to the group, it's a wonderful place to be. Everyone's right; "normal" people just don't understand why we get so excited about progress in the gym or why 145 is so awesome (CONGRATS on that weight!). The motivation and support here is amazing!0
-
Ok, I see you entered your stats as I did, with 5 reps at whatever weight. But, do we do 5 reps or 25? There really aren't any instructions, so I'm not sure if its a single set or an entire workout.
I was wondering about this too. Otherwise, my numbers are sad and I'm sad. :grumble:
And welcome to the new group members!0 -
Blargh. That's how I'm describing my workout this morning. Got to increase squats, and those went fine. Actually they felt a lot better at 75 than they did at 70. No clue why.
As for bench and rows, I was just repeating last time's weights because I got all my sets, but form was getting sloppy at the end. I figured it'd be no problem, right? Yeah, first roll of shame. :explode: I think I just didn't take a long enough rest period though. I ended up with 3x5 at 80, 1x4 at 80, and then after a longer rest, 1x5 at 80. So I probably could have done it. So, I get to try 80 for a third time. :grumble:
Rows went pretty good, but I still feel like I'm doing them wrong. It seems like my legs are just as tired as my arms after doing them (and I still feel nothing in my back). Unfortunately I can't ask someone to film me since I have a dumb phone. In my starting position, I'm essentially set up just like a dead lift, and then I just move my arms. I don't use my legs at all, but they're tensed. Is that right?0 -
Ok, I see you entered your stats as I did, with 5 reps at whatever weight. But, do we do 5 reps or 25? There really aren't any instructions, so I'm not sure if its a single set or an entire workout.
I was wondering about this too. Otherwise, my numbers are sad and I'm sad. :grumble:
And welcome to the new group members!
Never entire workout
just 5 reps or whatever you do in 1 set, and honestly the more reps you do, the less likely it is you are able to do 1 rep as calculates0 -
Awesome stats!
So yea. I went to strstd.com I was kinda shocked at where I was at honestly. I thought I would be more toward intermediate at least on the squat and deadlift. Now I'm going to obsess over this. Kinda an awesome website love it.
Yea put in a couple of you ladies numbers in and by far way ahead of me. A couple of you had all your lifts almost all to intermediate.
Like 353 pound deadlift is just barely intermediate ? WTH. I have some serious work to do. Gonna be a pro one day!
Not sure if this is helpful to judge for the ladies vs what the guys are lifting or not. Because just comparing the raw weight isnt really fair to go off of. So ill post it for ya. This is after 12 weeks.
Ok, I see you entered your stats as I did, with 5 reps at whatever weight. But, do we do 5 reps or 25? There really aren't any instructions, so I'm not sure if its a single set or an entire workout.
Well it's a single set. It's not 25 Because there Is a lot of rest in between reps. But 5 isn't really right either because on some of these exercises I could do more than five reps in one set. It really should be the most reps you get in one. Probably wont actually test it because I don't want to mess up my sl workouts. Like I think on bench I could do 10 squat 10 OHP 7 barbell row 8-9 10 bench and 7 deadlift. So maybe I should try those numbers.
Looks a little better that way lol.
Tho I don't know how accurate the one rep max is. I really don't know if I could pull 1 rep of a 334 deadlift since I only pulled 265 last time. Seems like a big jump0 -
Sampson, welcome to the group, it's a wonderful place to be. Everyone's right; "normal" people just don't understand why we get so excited about progress in the gym or why 145 is so awesome (CONGRATS on that weight!). The motivation and support here is amazing!
I knew that's why I liked it here. I have NEVER been "normal" lol
@sampson welcome! Nice numbers. I just started myself last week and hoping to see some progression this month.
Good morning everyone else. Feeling my bench press from yesterday, more of a tightness than soreness though. Legs are adapting well to the squats, barely a twinge this morning except in my butt. Cardio day and may add some yoga to stretch it all out later. Only problem I am really having is water retention, I'm swoled up like a toad even though not showing it much on the scale. I have a feeling I have broke my 211 but with all the water who can tell. Been eating protein up the wazoo and drinking plenty of water, no sodas, 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning. Help, suggestions.
In other news, one goal down, tried Greek yogurt yesterday, not love at first taste, but I think I can learn to like it.
Finally did heybales spreadsheet last night. I'm at 45% fat, WTH?, and I tweaked my calories some more. If no progress at 1800 going back up to 2100. 1800 seems right for me though because its plenty enough food without having to cram cals here and there to get them in. I find that if I'm higher cal that I tend to add junk as a filler. No bueno.
Hope everyone is having a fantabulous weekend!0 -
Like 353 pound deadlift is just barely intermediate ? WTH. I have some serious work to do. Gonna be a pro one day!
it will depend on gender but also your weight
I'm 63 kg (139 lbs) and in my case intermediate deadlift is 75 kg (165 lbs), squat 60 kg (132 lbs).
so looking at your stats, once you are done dieting you should be advance for all your lifts.
ETA just noticed that you are a guy (sorry I assumed all the members of this group are women) in that case, you have some more work to do before you hit intermediate 0 -
Like 353 pound deadlift is just barely intermediate ? WTH. I have some serious work to do. Gonna be a pro one day!
it will depend on gender but also your weight
I'm 63 kg (139 lbs) and in my case intermediate deadlift is 75 kg (165 lbs), squat 60 kg (132 lbs).
so looking at your stats, once you are done dieting you should be advance for all your lifts.
ETA just noticed that you are a guy (sorry I assumed all the members of this group are women) in that case, you have some more work to do before you hit intermediate
No worries. I'm the anomaly. Yea put in my goal weight and still under intermediate lol. Oh well, I'll just have to lift more!0
